Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor X-Men.

A/N: I know, I know, this one is way too short. Problem is, I liked where it ended, so here it is.

The next three chapters (this one inclusive) action takes a bit of a backseat, and so its going to be a bit, ah, slower coming out. Slice of life/relationship stuff is not my strong suit, but learning to be a better writer is why I have taken up Fanfiction!

Anyway, this one is the immediate aftermath of Harry and Laura's argument, and their respective conversations with a mentor of sorts. Hope you enjoy.

Also, just to clarify, Harry/Tom have not regrown their eye. If you see a reference to 'eyes', its because I didn't catch the autocorrect.

Chapter 19: Fallout

It was a surprise for Harry when, after turning in for the night, that he didn't truly go to sleep. Instead, he found himself in a sterile, white room, a room he was innately familiar with.

"The fuck?" Harry muttered, gazing around the whitewashed walls of his old cell within the Department.

"Like what I've done with the place?" Tom asked, dropping down for the fitness apparatus tucked away at the back of the room. "I thought the big black void was a bit cliché. Plus we can do this without going all 'Word of God', you know?"

"And it had to be this place?" Harry snarled, looking around.

"Where else would it be?" Tom asked. "Daken's cabin? Please."

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk," Tom said. "About X23."

"Well, I don't," Harry grunted, striding over to the apparatus.

Tom levelled a glare at his compatriot. "It's not going to go away. We need to take decisive action."

"Just leave it, Tom," Harry growled, pulling himself up with a bar, the burn of exercise not registering in his muscles."

"No, Harry," Tom sighed. "This needs sorting now."

"Well, I don't know!" Harry shouted, dropping from the bar. "I don't know what to do!"

Tom snorted. "Big change from that single minded plan to run off to Alaska, huh?"

"They turned her against me!" Harry screamed at him, slamming a fist into the bar beside him, the metal bending under the force unleashed. "She betrayed me!"

"Indeed," Tom smirked, flicking his hand at the bar, watching it repair itself. "But we cannot let this… devastation cripple us, hmm?"

"But…" Harry murmured, looking down. "But… It's Laura. I don't know what to do without her."

"Gah!" Tom scowled, running a hand through his hair. "Shut up about X23!"

Harry snapped his head up to face his alter ego. "Huh?"

"We don't need her, Harry, we never did," Tom spat. "This fixation is unhealthy, and it's going to get us killed. We're killers, survivors! So what if she's abandoned us - we don't need her!"

"Tom," Harry hesitated. "I don't know…"

"You leave this to me, Harry," Tom said, a cruel smile gracing his face. "I'll sort this all out.

X

Rogue looked up from where she was sitting as she heard footsteps. "Hello, Laura. Can ah help yah?" She frowned as Laura fidgeted, far more nervous than she had ever seen her. "Is this about Harry?"

Laura bit her lip, nodding. "I, ah, thought you might be able to help. Dad's not here, and I didn't really feel like the others would be that helpful."

"Yah mean, ah'm the one that's had a lover," Rogue interpreted. "Mah fling with Remy." She let out a soft snort. "Well, ah hate tah break it to yah, but that dinna really turn out too great."

"Oh," Laura said, deflating slightly. "I just don't know what to do."

"Hey, sugah, did ah say ah couldn't help?" Rogue laughed. "Ah've been around for a little while, ah know a bit."

Laura perked up a bit. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Rogue nodded. "Ah s'pose yah could do with a bit of backstory, yeah? Well, remember when yah showed up at the institute, an' the Professor said ah'd graduated a year prior?"

Laura frowned, before nodding. "Yeah, I figured you were just younger than you looked."

"Rude," Rogue snorted, playfully swatting her with a silk gloved hand. "Nah, ah haven't always been on the right side of mutant politics, shall we say. Well, about six years b'fore you showed up, ah showed up, much the same way. Logan found me in the middle of nowhere, offered me an olive branch."

"When you say the you weren't on the right side…" Laura said slowly.

"Ah mean Magneto," Rogue nodded. "Ah liked what he preached, and ah was a dumb kid. Then, when ah was nineteen, Magneto just, ah dunno, gave up. Quit the Brotherhood tah do how knows what. My m- that is, Mystique, tried tah keep it up, but she dinna have the, whaddya call it, gravitas. I ran away, an' Logan found me."

"Oh," Laura mumbled. "But… I don't get what this has to do with me."

"Well, ah ain't never told nobody 'bout this till yah, but in thah last year, when Magneto seemed tah be tryin' to do stuff differently?" Rogue said. "Well, this bloke showed up, about mah age, yeah? Well, ah fell for him. An' ah fell for him hard."

Laura blinked. "Ah."

Rogue nodded. "Yeah. He was kinda like yah boytoy, y'know? Moody at times, bit tetchy, but a caring bloke. The others never really liked him, cos he weren't a mutie, see? Was a wizard, ah think, could do some wicked tricks. And ah could touch him without hurting him. Or rather, he could heal himself quick enough that ah weren't hurting him."

"What happened to him?" Laura asked.

"We got intah a fight," Rogue said, her gaze distant. "Ah wanted him to come with me, but he said he had better things tah do. Those were his exact words: better things tah be doin' than followin' a love struck southern belle. Ah wish it never broke down that far, and ah know he was hurt that ah wouldn't just stick with him, but he left, and ah ain't never seen him again."

"You never went looking for him?" Laura asked.

Rogue gave a dry chuckle. "Ah can't, sugah. The last thing he ever did was mess with mah head. Ah remember all about him, all the stuff we did, but ah ain't ever gonna be able to remember what he looked like, what he sounded like."

"I'm sorry," Laura said. "Compared to that, my problems seem like nothing."

"Nah, it ain't nothin' if it's affecting you, darling," Rogue said. "Now that ah've told yah mah history, let's here yah problem, see what ah can do tah help. Ah mean, ah heard the argument, an' ah spoke tah Harry after he stormed out, but ah'd like tah here it from yah."

"I just don't know what to do, Miss Rogue," Laura sighed. "I was really hoping this would be it, me and Harry back together again, and then he just snaps! Kitty seems to think he's hurt and he'll come around, but I don't see how I'm going to sort this out."

"Hmm," Rogue nodded, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Seems tah me, he wants the same as yah - yah and him, back together. Problem is, yah've changed while yah've been here, become more compassionate, calmer. Become more of yah own gal. Harry, the poor boy, hasn't. He's the same kid he was four years ago. An' he just can't understand that yah've changed."

"But how?" Laura asked. "How could he have been free for this long, and not changed?"

"Daken," Rogue answered. "Ah don't believe he meant any harm, but Daken ain't quite together either. He ain't a good influence for Harry. He's just reinforced old lessons."

"Lessons?" she whispered. "What lessons?"

"How to kill," Rogue said bluntly. "How to cheat, how to lie, how to steal. Everything a mercenary is, he already was, thanks to that damned Department."

"So he's still just a Weapon, then," Laura whispered. "He still isn't free."

"Not yet, Laura, not yet," Rogue sighed. "And at this point? I don't think he even understands that."

"So, is there no hope?" Laura said. "No chance for him to follow the path I've taken."

"No, no hope for that," Rogue said. "But another path? Sure."

Laura frowned. "Another path?"

Rogue nodded. "And that is why he'll be coming to the institute. To give him that chance. To show him that there are other ways to live."

"I hope you're right, Miss Rogue," Laura said. "Thank you for your time."

"No problem, Laura," Rogue sighed under her breath, as her student left. "I'm rooting for the kid too."

A/N: I promise, next one will be a bit longer. Hopefully. We've got a lot more downtime and low stakes action for a bit, lots of building up the characters and putting in the groundwork for the story, but the next big event is edging ever closer!

So, how did I do? Good characterisation? Engaging drama? Let me know and drop me a review!

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Until next time, this is JaguarAJG, signing off.